Judi Lloyd: So you want to start a vegetable garden

By By Judi Lloyd

Published: Friday, June 7, 2013 at 03:56 PM.

After my last article on reducing some of your turf and replacing it with a more interesting landscape or even a vegetable garden, I received a number of requests regarding the basics of starting to grow vegetables.

Make sure you’ve chosen a sunny spot (6+ hours of sun each day) with good drainage. After you’ve cleared the space of all weeds and turf where you want to plan, you will want to amend the soil with some of that good Tuscarora compost (very cheap) to a depth of at least 4 inches. You could do a soil test first (forms and boxes available at Craven County Cooperative Extension Service), but let’s not spoil the excitement of just jumping in to “git er’ done” at least for this first year.

Obviously, you will choose the fruits and vegetables that you and your family enjoy. You can either seed directly into the soil or set out transplants. For example, beans and peas are best grown from seed, whereas tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes are best put in as transplants. Cucumbers, squashes, melons and okra work well either way. I purchase my seeds from Mitchell Hardware and the transplants from Pinecone Perennials, Williams Farm & Garden or Mitchell’s. For nutrients, I use cottonseed meal purchased at Williams. It’s very inexpensive and organic.

When you have your plants and/or seeds in (make sure they are spaced well for air circulation), it is best to cover the soil around the plants with a light layer of a degradable mulch. Hay, pine straw or compost will all work well. One reason for this is that you don’t want the soil to splash up onto the plants when you water them. Also, it keeps moisture in, suppresses weeds and allows the ground to stay a bit cooler. Most crops will need 1” of water per week to stay productive. In sandy soils, water 2 to 3 times per week, applying 1/2 to 1/3” each time.

Adding a few flowers has two benefits: adding some color to the garden and pollination.

And the terrific thing around here is that you can grow food all year long, albeit not the same ones — there are warm season crops and cool season crops.

My next article will be about growing your crops in raised beds, as there are a number of advantages to this method.

After my last article on reducing some of your turf and replacing it with a more interesting landscape or even a vegetable garden, I received a number of requests regarding the basics of starting to grow vegetables.

Make sure you’ve chosen a sunny spot (6+ hours of sun each day) with good drainage. After you’ve cleared the space of all weeds and turf where you want to plan, you will want to amend the soil with some of that good Tuscarora compost (very cheap) to a depth of at least 4 inches. You could do a soil test first (forms and boxes available at Craven County Cooperative Extension Service), but let’s not spoil the excitement of just jumping in to “git er’ done” at least for this first year.

Obviously, you will choose the fruits and vegetables that you and your family enjoy. You can either seed directly into the soil or set out transplants. For example, beans and peas are best grown from seed, whereas tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes are best put in as transplants. Cucumbers, squashes, melons and okra work well either way. I purchase my seeds from Mitchell Hardware and the transplants from Pinecone Perennials, Williams Farm & Garden or Mitchell’s. For nutrients, I use cottonseed meal purchased at Williams. It’s very inexpensive and organic.

When you have your plants and/or seeds in (make sure they are spaced well for air circulation), it is best to cover the soil around the plants with a light layer of a degradable mulch. Hay, pine straw or compost will all work well. One reason for this is that you don’t want the soil to splash up onto the plants when you water them. Also, it keeps moisture in, suppresses weeds and allows the ground to stay a bit cooler. Most crops will need 1” of water per week to stay productive. In sandy soils, water 2 to 3 times per week, applying 1/2 to 1/3” each time.

Adding a few flowers has two benefits: adding some color to the garden and pollination.

And the terrific thing around here is that you can grow food all year long, albeit not the same ones — there are warm season crops and cool season crops.

My next article will be about growing your crops in raised beds, as there are a number of advantages to this method.

Judi Lloyd lives in River Bend and can be contacted at judilloyd@yahoo.com.